Gift of the Naaru
by Kaoupa
Summary: Walking in Shattrath's ruins as the rebuilding of Draenor begins, Yrel and Liadrin quietly sit and discuss their people, the concept of alternate universes, redemption, and the gifts of the Light. Warning; minor Yrel/Liadrin.


A/N: I do not own World of Warcraft, or Warcraft. Blizzard Entertainment does. Though some of the opinions below do reflect my own on what happened before/during/after Warlords of Draenor.

Shattrath City. Capital of the draenei upon Draenor. Reduced to a near-ruin by the Iron Horde, and later the Shadow Council, and now, at last, the draenei were beginning the slow process of rebuilding it, under the eye of the now-Exarch Yrel.

But not by themselves.

"I am just saying, many will be sad to see you go after all that you and your people have done for us."

Walking down a road that had yet to be repaired, searching for any Legion forces that might be lying in wait for the workers from both the draenei and the forces of Azeroth, Yrel walked. Besides her, the head of the Blood Knights shook her head, her shield on her back, but still holding her sword. However, her mind was not focused too much on the area; the Legion had been all but removed from Draenor by now.

"Considering that we were responsible for releasing the man who started all this onto your world, I would think that you would be more grateful to be seeing us go." Liadrin said.

Yrel shrugged. "It was hardly your fault, from what i've heard. I heard something about a bronze… dragon, you called it?"

Liadrin nodded. "A rouge bronze released Garrosh and brought him here. Why, I don't really know." She didn't really care too much, either. Their negligence in watching him had been released Garrosh on this world, and had gotten a great deal of people from both worlds killed in the process.

"Perhaps doing so was for the best." Yrel shrugged, walking ahead and catching Liadrin off-guard.

"...For the best? The Iron Horde slaughtering millions of your people, getting almost half of the orc population killed, including the ones who joined the draenei and tried to stop them, and summoning the Legion, was for the best?"

Yrel turned around, looking surprisingly calm. "Compared to what happened on your world - well, your universe - when the same thing happened? Well… yes."

Liadrin could not conceal the look of shock that came over her face.

"You knew-"

"That you came from a universe that was more or less the same as ours?" Yrel finished. "Until Garrosh came here somehow? Yes."

"...How did you find out?" Liadrin asked. While questions were bound to be asked sooner or later, many of the Azerothians had tried to keep what had happened and how they had arrived under wraps, so there would be fewer of those questions.

"I… had my suspicions for a time." Yrel admitted, resuming her walk down the road, Liadrin falling into pace after her. "When we first met in Tanaan… I was surprised to see orcs and draenei coming from the other side, but there wasn't any time to think about it for a while."

"Because you had to fight in Shadowmoon afterwards?" Liadrin stated.

Yrel nodded. With almost all of the combatants from the Shadowmoon clan against us and most of their deserters being too old, too young, or not front line fighters, they had had to fight off a Void-empowered orc clan with very little backup. There had been far too much death on both sides before she had gotten the time to think about why the invaders had brought more of her own people with them, and what it might mean.

"Talador." She said eventually.

"That's when you were certain of it?" Liadrin questioned.

"Yes." She said, quietly thinking back to what had happened there. The battles against the Iron Horde, the arakkoa… and meeting the others of their kind who had arrived there with the Alliance.

Some of which bore resemblances to her own people far too extensive to be coincidence.

"After Maraad's death…" She winced, remembering his last act in saving her. "I started looking into how such resemblances between peoples were possible." She was silent for a bit.

"And you asked the million silver question." Liadrin finished.

Yrel nodded. To say that she had been completely shocked upon discovering the truth had been an understatement; while the idea of an alternate universe explained how draenei and orcs could come from a world that was not connected to hers, it was still not something anyone ever expected to hear.

"I...have a question, though." Yrel asked, causing Liadrin to tilt her head.

"Ask away."

Nervousness came over Yrel's face, causing Liadrin to feel like she wanted to hug the draenei to make the feeling go away. "D...do you know why Maraad saved me?"

Liadrin winced.

"I...all i've heard were rumors." She said, quickly moving ahead.

That some of the rumors claimed that Yrel had been Maraad's wife or lover in their world was not something she would trouble the young leader with the knowledge of.

"...I think you reminded him of someone he didn't protect last time… And he couldn't bear to live knowing he'd failed them again."

"When the orcs on his world invaded?" Yrel said.

Liadrin nodded. "Yes."

Yrel shrugged. "I guess some things just never change. Even when they weren't tricked here, some of the orcs still tried to kill us."

"A lot less than on our world." Liadrin shot back, putting her hand on Yrel's shoulder.

"I know." Yrel said. "We didn't save enough of the ones who ran, though…"

"Yrel." Liadrin said, her voice harder, and her arm around the draenei's shoulder. "Don't beat yourself up. You were a _priestess_. If you tried to save them, you probably would just have gotten them and you killed. There are still plenty of them who rebelled who are still alive and helping rebuild. Don't beat yourself up for it."

Slowly, Yrel nodded and moved forwards. "So you and your people all truly intend to leave when this is over?" She asked, slightly saddened at the thought of losing the people that she had fought alongside for so long.

"It was decided quite a while ago." Liadrin said bluntly.

As much as many of the Horde and Alliance's members saw Draenor as a way of setting right the original war between the orcs and draenei, Azeroth still needed them in the end, she reflected.

Seriously, with everything that had happened, was it really too much to ask for some peace for a change? More than just a few years without something coming seemingly out of the blue and trying to kill them all?

"So, I take it things on Azeroth are not very stable then?" Yrel deadpanned, causing Liadrin to realize she had said the last part out loud.

"Azeroth hasn't been stable in decades..." Liadrin muttered.

"So… why not move here?" Yrel said, a bit of hope coming over her face at the thought.

A bitter smile came over Liadrin's face. "I'll be blunt. I agree that Azeroth… it's screwed up. A ton of the place is still trying to kill us, there are still remnants of the Legion there, and people are starting to think the wars for our continued existence won't ever end..."

She smiled.

"But it's still home. I guess most of us just can't imagine living anywhere else… and the world can't keep up the effort to kill us forever."

Yrel stared at her for several seconds, before shaking her head with an odd smile on her face. "I hope you're right, for your own sakes…"

"So do I."

Noticing a bench of sorts in the park they were now in, Yrel moved to it and motioned for Liadrin to sit down.

"Lovely area." Liadrin noted, looking around it. There were several trees and bushes… albeit, most of the former were now in shards on the ground, though the latter had regrown almost entirely by this point. "Well, previously."

"It was, wasn't it." Yrel said with a sad look. "The Iron Horde really hit Shattrath hard…"

"They did indeed." Liadrin agreed. A smirk came over her face. "I'm kind of surprised you let Grommash live after what he did…"

"Everybody deserves a second chance." Yrel shrugged. "I think he honestly regrets what he did… I have to respect that."

A smirk came over her face. "It still doesn't mean he's going to have any real power for the rest of his life."

Liadrin slowly shook her head. "You really believe he's sorry for what he did?"

Yrel looked Liadrin in the eyes.

"Do you regret what you did to M'uru?"

Liadrin averted her gaze. The time when she had forced the naaru into slavery was long past. Bringing it up was painful, as was what she felt at the time… when she felt as though the Light had deserted her, and the only way to make things right was to take the fickle magic and force it to do her will.

But she had been asked a question, and she looked Yrel in the eyes.

"It… the feeling of guilt goes away over time." She nodded. "But… yes. I do."

"Then perhaps Grommash can feel regret for what he did as well." Yrel said, looking her in the eyes.

"Perhaps…" Liadrin mused. A smile came over her face. "You asked about Azeroth? Why I keep trying to save it when the world keeps trying to kill us?"

"Yes?" Yrel asked, tilting her head.

"I think… well, my people were lost. After the Sunwell was destroyed… we were addicted to magic. We still are, somewhat. And M'uru… maybe it was because of Velen's prophecy, but it stayed behind and helped us of its own will." A bitter smile came over Liadrin's face. "I… I think it saw something worth saving in us. I guess I owe it to M'uru to do the same for Azeroth."

Yrel looked down quietly. "I… must respect that. I just wish that you weren't so determined to go back."

"Why are you so intent on having me stay?" Liadrin asked, a frown coming over her face.

Yrel's response came in three parts.

First, she stared down, turning darker blue.

Second, she looked up again, and a look of determination came over her face.

Thirdly, before Liadrin could react, Yrel rushed forwards, kissed her on the lips, and hastily withdrew.

Liadrin blinked. Then, she kept blinking for several seconds.

"I - um, oh Light I shouldn't have done that- I should go…" Yrel stammered, quickly getting up, pulling Maraad's hammer up, and starting to walk again. _I - gah! Why is it I can fight an orc warlord and lead armies, but can't say "I like you" to somebody?!_ Yrel thought to herself furiously.

She felt someone tapping her on the shoulder, then turned around.

To receive a hug from Liadrin.

"I - I, um, er…" Yrel started stammering, her arms at her sides, and her brain having difficulty working properly. "Does this, will you, um…"

"I think… I might stay a while longer." Liadrin said, smiling up at the draenei woman.

"Um, what should I do?" Yrel asked, still blushing purple.

"Be quiet and enjoy this before I have to leave?" Liadrin smirked.

Quietly, still flushing, Yrel closed her eyes and hugged Liadrin.

 _I have to leave…_ Liadrin thought quietly, feeling Yrel press a kiss to her forehead. _But I can come back sooner or later._

A/N: The Grommash thing? I think that most of the remaining Draenor orcs would be very sick of warfare, since it got lots of them killed, and likely would never listen to him. Durotan is, in all likelihood, far more popular than he is now since he actually kept a cool head and tried to stay peaceful. And I don't doubt that the draenei are keeping a very close eye on him if he gets any funny ideas, not to mention all the draenei, orcs, arrakoa, or others who will be trying to ensure he doesn't get much older. If nothing else, he's a target, so to speak; people know he was in charge, and they're probably going to go after him instead of the orcs as a whole.

I am not entirely sure where Yreliadrin came from. Maybe it's because they kind of parallel each other, with it being possible to compare Yrel to a Liadrin who hadn't "fallen." Maybe it's because the blood elf/draenei dynamic was heavy in the Burning Crusade. Maybe it's just because it's kind of cute; either way, I still like the pairing, whether arguably crack or not.

Inspired by a tumblr pic by hannahdrawsart.


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